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Being a Boomerang Child

Before I get into what grinds my gears today, I would like to apologize to everyone for being an absent for a week. As I said in a previous post, long-term absences without reason are bothersome to me. I have recently obtained a job in retail, which despite what has been said, does get very tiring day in and day out. I had only a few posts prepared for last week and by the time I remembered them, it was the end of the week. That being said, I will try my hardest to keep you updated on what grinds my gears this week.

The 2008 recession was a pretty large blow on Americans. While that was five years ago, there have been varying reports of whether or not the U.S. job market and economy are rising or are still low. All of these reports made former college students, such as myself, wary upon graduation day. Since I’m still at home, I’m quite wary of the economy and job market.

I graduated with two bachelor’s degrees in May of this year. I didn’t initially have a job lined up then, but I wasn’t worried; the majority of people I had graduated with didn’t have jobs either and were still looking. I knew I wouldn’t find my dream job right away, but I was willing to look at the “lackey” positions and take what was available.

By the time August rolled around, I became discouraged. I had applied to everywhere and anywhere, including places in Cincinnati. Yet, all I had heard was the resonating “no.” So, I did what any good boomerang child would do; I got a part-time job.

Let me clarify; I’m not complaining about being able to live at home. Rather, I am quite grateful that my parents are allowing me to live back at home — rent free! — and are helping me out while I’m trying to get myself started on my own in the real world. What grinds my gears about being a boomerang child is the fact that I am a boomerang child.

I’m annoyed that the job market and economy are at a point in time that not a single company is willing to hire a fresh-out-of-college kid. The dreaded loop has become all too real to me: you need experience to get a job, but you need a job for experience. This vicious cycle is what grinds my gears currently being a boomerang child.

Many places I have applied to ask for potential employees to have anywhere from 1-2 years experience or 3-5 years experience. Technically, I have 3-5 years experience in the journalism world with everything I was involved with while at Ohio University, plus the internships I have held. But for some reason, none of these experiences I have been a part of actually count as experience in the job market. Thus, I am stuck at home with a part-time job in retail that has nothing do with what I studied my ass off to graduate with two degrees in four years. That’s what grinds my gears.

While my parents are not among them, many folks of older generations (I’m looking at you, baby boomers), don’t quite comprehend how I am not able to have a job immediately after college. The world is a different place than it was 40 years ago, and jobs just aren’t easily available in 2013.

Until I can find a genuine job in my field, I’ll be here, filling all your needs of what grinds my gears.